Aoun tells Larijani 'forbidden for anyone to bear arms, use foreign backing'

President Joseph Aoun told Iran's visiting security chief on Wednesday that he rejected any interference in the country's internal affairs, branding as "unconstructive" Iran's statements on plans to disarm Hezbollah.

"We reject any interference in our internal affairs," Aoun said, adding that "it is forbidden for anyone... to bear arms and to use foreign backing as leverage," Aoun told Ali Larijani, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency posted on X.

“Lebanon wants to cooperate with Iran within the limits of sovereignty and friendship that are based on mutual respect,” Aoun added.

“The rhetoric that Lebanon heard over the past period from Iranian officials is unconstructive and the friendship that we want between Lebanon and Iran should not be through a single sect or a single Lebanese component, but rather with all Lebanese,” the president went on to say.

“Through its constitutional and security institutions, the Lebanese state is responsible of protecting all Lebanese components,” Aoun added.

He also noted that “any challenges coming from the Israeli enemy or other parties are challenges for all Lebanese and not for a specific group of them,” adding that “the most important weapon for confronting them is the unity of the Lebanese.”

Larijani's visit to Lebanon comes after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise plans to disarm Tehran-backed Hezbollah.

Following his arrival in Beirut, Larijani vowed that his government would continue to provide support, after it expressed opposition to the disarmament plan.

Iran and its so-called "axis of resistance" have suffered a series of blows in their long-running rivalry with Israel.

Iran and Israel went to war in June, with the United States stepping in briefly to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.

Hezbollah suffered devastating losses in a year of hostilities with Israel that ended with a November 2024 ceasefire.

A month later, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad was ousted, depriving Hezbollah of its main conduit for weapons and supplies from Iran.

Iran has declared its firm opposition to the Lebanese government's bid to disarm Hezbollah, while the movement itself has slammed the decision as a "grave sin".

Before the war with Israel, Hezbollah was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military.

It long maintained it had to keep its arsenal in order to defend Lebanon from attack, but critics accused it of using its weapons for political leverage.

In Beirut, Larijani vowed continued support.

"If... the Lebanese people are suffering, we in Iran will also feel this pain and we will stand by the dear people of Lebanon in all circumstances," Larijani told reporters.

Hezbollah's grip on power has slipped since the ceasefire with Israel and the new Lebanese government, backed by the United States, has moved to further restrain it.